We live near the american border and when we want one of those pesky 'they don't ship to Canada' items we have it shipped to a UPS store just across the border and drive down and pick it up. This is such a common event at this UPS that the whole store is basically full of piled up boxes. They typically charge 5-10$ for this service and then you pay your duty at the border - remember to print out your online receipt. If you are unable to find an address on the board to ship to you could try calling up UPS stores in towns across the border and ask if they also do this.
Bridget

that is a good idea! I've ended up finding a few that do ship so when i'm ready i can do it. Funny that they wouldnt ship to the store though, they said they needed an actual address. i should have given them the stores address. I dont get that 'dont ship to canada', would it kill them? It's not like they are paying for the postage. oh well, move on to the ones that do.

One note is that if you are using a laptop on 12v, it is more efficient to have a 12v adapter for the laptop than to run it through an inverter. I do carry a small, cheap inverter for just in case (it makes a cheap spare), but the 12v adapter is better if you are trying to conserve power.